Fallen Flags, The Classic American RailroadFallen Flags, a name all too common now describing American railroads (just a bittersweet fact of the free market at work), is term meaning those railroads whose corporate name has been dissolved either through merger, bankruptcy, or liquidation. At one time in the United States there were nearly 140 Class I railroads (or those with at least $1 million annual operating revenue at that time) and today these are commonly known as the fallen flags or “classic” railroads. The older folks reading this can remember almost all of these in person, from the legendary Santa Fe with its famous Warbonnet paint scheme to the mighty Pennsylvania and this country’s first common carrier, the Baltimore & Ohio.
Much of this "bonding" came from the fact that railroads during those days operated in a particular region or part of the country where folks could easily recognize the railroad which ran through their town (and to some extent, railroads back then used to be a bit more cordial than today), and not the entire eastern or western half of the country like we see today (for instance, some small towns boasted four to five Class Is at one time!). Today nearly all of those classic railroads, now fallen flags, are gone except for just a few (the Union Pacific is perhaps the most notable), although their legends and names will always live on. Below you will find links to some of the best remembered of these classic fallen flags describing each in more detail and broken down into the territory where they operated (i.e., east, west, north, south).
Delaware, Lackawanna & Western (The Lackawanna) Maryland & Pennsylvania Railroad New York, New Haven & Hartford Florida East Coast (FEC) (This railroad is still operating, it is placed here because of its long and storied history.) Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (The Burlington Route) Lake Superior & Ishpeming (This railroad is still operating but placed here because of its historical significance.) Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific (Rock Island) Kansas City Southern (This railroad is still operating, it is placed here because of its long and storied history.) New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (The Nickel Plate Road) St. Louis Southwestern (The Cotton Belt) Toledo, Peoria & Western (This railroad is still operating but is placed here because of its historical significance.) Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (The Santa Fe) Denver & Rio Grande Western (The Rio Grande) Saint Louis-San Francisco Railway (The Frisco) Union Pacific (This railroad is still operating, it is placed here because of its long and storied history.) Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific (The Milwaukee Road) Spokane, Portland & Seattle (SP&S) For more information on fallen flags not mentioned above please click here. Lastly, for a guide to the historical societies keeping alive the memory of most of the fallen flags covered above, plus many others, please click here.
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